Happy New Year to everybody! I took a couple of weeks off from the blog to spend with family and friends. I ate more than I should have, and definitely ate many things better left on the table. Now, like everybody else, I'm looking to lose some of those holiday pounds. This happens every year, but luckily I plan for it, and will increase the amount of fasting I do to compensate for those dietary indiscretions. For me, fasting is not particularly difficult, but for those new to fasting or low carb diets, it can be a daunting task.
For this reason, the Intensive Dietary Management (IDM) Program, run by myself and Megan Ramos provide a number of educational programs that can help with fasting. There are paid programs but also a number of free programs that I encourage you to take advantage of. In this post, I'll highlight some free resources that I think can be very useful. You can sign up for both the 12-week introductory fasting program and the fasting community (Facebook) right from the home page of www.IDMprogram.com.
We've developed these resources over the course of the last year, but released them mostly towards the end of 2018, so many of you may not be familiar with them. The most important components for weight loss, in my opinion are to have the proper knowledge, and then be part of a community that encourages you to follow through. In many cases, people don't understand fasting and even if they do, they are surrounded by people who sabotage their progress. So the most important part of starting on the road to using fasting for weight loss is education and being part of a community that supports you. Luckily, the IDM program has free resources to help you.
12-week introduction to fasting email course
The idea of this course is to provide some basic information about fasting and how it can help with weight loss. You simply sign up on our home page, and you will receive a weekly email that provides some basic education. The topics covered include:
- Fasting history
- Fasting vs calorie restriction
- Physiology
- Fasting and weight loss 1
- Fasting and weight loss 2
- Autophagy
- Fasting and muscle loss
- Growth hormone
- Exercise
- Fasting and cholesterol
- The #1 rule of fasting
- Fasting regimens
This gives a very brief overview of topics and you are then free to explore the rest of our free blog for more related topics on fasting. You simply need an email address to sign up for our free introductory email course on the home page of the IDM program website.
Fasting community
The second important component of weight loss is to find a supportive community. For that, we've put together a free Facebook Fasting support group called 'The Obesity Code Network' Anybody and everybody is free to join. Facebook is kind of a Wild West sort of place, but our moderators hopefully make it a little more inviting and supporting.
Podcast
IDM Physician's Network
If you need a physician to oversee, check out our IDM Physician's Network which lists doctors that support the therapeutic use of fasting.
Best of luck to everybody!
Also published on idmprogram.com.